Gaohra
Gaohra is the name of the [[Hamaji|'Kingdom of Hamaji's']] westernmost city, and the capital of Rinan province. Historically it was the name used for the wider region and at times the whole continent by [[Daolin|'Daolese']] explorers. It is ruled by Prince Jing-ta, under the authority of the Blue King of Hamaji. Due to its history Gaohra shares much of its culture with Daolin. The city mostly follows Saherism, but sizeable minorities following the Suka faith and Hongyi faith exist, and it is the only place with a reasonably sized Solaha population without a large Sunghalan population. History Early History The city of Gaohra began as a settlement of the Lónghai Empire of Daolin. It was a source of goods from the larger continent, and an important source of revenue for the kingdom. Eventually it grew in importance, as the city's wealth attracted settlers from Daolin as well as from the nearby population. It grew so large that it became considered the second city of the kingdom, and its significance grew further still as Lónghai lost its other colonies to [[Sahkora|'Sahkora']], [[Damri|'Damri' and Karshan]]. Even when Lónghai merged with nearby Kingdom of Haikan and with it the larger city of Jinsi, Gaohra maintained an important position in the empire. The title of Prince of Gaohra was granted to the Nahói clan, early pioneers in overseas exploration. In the early years, the upper classes were composed of the Daolese settlers and the lower classes of the native tribes. However over the centuries a great degree of intermarriage has occurred resulting in a mostly creole population. Major racial influences include traders from Sahkora, Damri and Hamaji, native tribesmen, as well as settlers from Daolin. Even the royal line displays this clearly. Prince Baihau Nahói died without a male heir, leaving Princess Yin-Fa Nahói sole heir to the title. She was married to Kiah-ta, a wealthy native tribal chief, and since then the line has taken his name rather than the Nahói one. Over the years the house has been intermarried with both Daolese nobles and to native ones, as well as several Hamajin, Sahkoran and Damrin merchants, and now it is near-impossible to place them in one category or the other. The current prince Jing-ta is of age with the Daolese Emperor [[Yushui|'Yushui Yuha'i]], is considered part of Yushui's Legal Household under Daolese law, and they were childhood friends. Due to the geographic difference and the domination of the seas between them by their enemies, communication between the imperial court and Gaohra broke down. However relations remained good between the prince and the emperor, and the region never shed its Daolese heritage. The emperor was forced by necessity to recognise Gaohra as an independent state, with close links and eternal friendship with Daolin. The Kingdom of Gaohra recognised the suzerainty of the Empire of Lónghai. Hamajin invasion [[Hamaji|'Hamaji']] expanded westwards over the north of the continent, eventually reaching the farthest coast where the city of Gaohra stood. It seized most of the rich lands nearby, before claiming the right to the city itself. The prince was defiant and fended off the Hamajin invaders. For years Gaohra refused to bow, even as Hamaji grew stronger in the west, conquering the nearby Tifaran Empire completely. However the Blue King of Hamaji forged an brief alliance with the naval power of Sahkora, and had their navy move up the [[Geography|'Dasra River']] to the city gates while the Hamajin armies gathered on land nearby. Desperate, the Prince opened up the gates and accepted Hamajin overlordship. The Prince remained viceroy of Gaohra and Rinan province as a whole, but had much of his wealth and power granted to the Blue King of Hamaji. Divide in religious practice in recent years has driven up tensions between the Blue King and the Prince. The minority religions have been officially banned, along with the region's alternate interpretation of the Heavenly Scrolls of the Faith of Illumination. Though no forced conversions take place, no new heretical temples can be built and existing ones must mark themselves as such. This is a large issue as only a tiny minority follow the eastern interpretation of the scrolls, and most practice some level of syncretism with the minority religions. The Beygul Gambit Unhappy with his peoples' treatment by the Hamajin state, Prince Jing-ta seeks to leave the Blue King's authority and accept instead the Morkral's. His distant relative and friend emperor Yushui Yuhai has reported good treatment by his Beygul overlords and told of how the Bekheg enshrines religious freedom. He has met with Beygul leaders to discuss how such a move could take place. As one of Hamaji's largest cities, the Blue King would not give it up freely, and Beygir's armies were not equipped to mount a full-scale invasion overseas. Given that Hamaji and Beygir's military might were roughly equal, conventional invasion would bring nothing. Instead they agreed that large numbers of Beygir's men would be moved into a series of nearby fortresses and strongholds, masquerading as traders and doing so over the course of five years. On top of this, they would win the allegiance of the marginalised Hisra people nearby, famed for their horse and camel cavalry. When the time came, the prince would declare himself independent and immediately secede to Beygir, and the armies would mobilise to protect the borders. The Blue King would either attack, in which case the Beygul forces had the advantage with command of fortifications, or would be intimidated by the armies and allow a bloodless revolution. The proposed new state would not contain all of Rinan province, but the westernmost coastal regions. In the years after, Gaohra would become one of Beygir's largest military bases to deter later invasion by Hamaji (much like the Lampa region of Khagira). Influences * A mixture of Song dynasty China and Ptolemaic Egpyt, with some architectural influences from Majapahit.